An Experimental Study on Strength and Durability of Glass Fiber Reinforced Cement Concrete with Partial Replacement of Cement and Sand with Coal Ashes Available in Central Chhattisgarh Region

Abstract

Chhattisgarh ranks 3rd in coal production in India and plenty of coal is mined daily in the central Chhattisgarh region of India. Hence, a lot of steel and power plants have been established in this region. From these power plants, a huge amount of fly ash and pond ash is generated daily, and these ashes are occupying large landfill areas. The carbon dioxide released from the chimneys of these plants not only pollutes the local air mass but also creates the problem of carbonation of local concrete structures. The corrosion of RCC structures in this highly industrialized local region surrounded by industry is accelerated due to the high emission of carbon dioxide. Hence, the strength and durability of concrete must be checked for the partial replacement of cement and sand with locally available industrial wastes in order to ascertain its long-term performance. The present investigation was taken up to do a detailed study on workability, durability, and strength of concrete by replacing cement with fly ash by weight up to 40% and sand with pond ash by volume up to 20% with a constant dose of glass fiber of 0.1% of the volume of the concrete. Various tests like rheology, shrinkage, electrical resistivity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, heat conductivity, leaching, compressive strength and flexural strength were conducted on various mixes of new coal ash fiber reinforced concrete. From these results, a mixed design process was proposed for the preparation of sustainable concrete from locally available industrial by-products.